OVERVIEW
Birmingham is the largest city in the state. Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it sprawls along a single valley, while suburbs dot the surrounding valleys. Red Mountain is in the center of town and runs east to west. Along the mountain, iron ore was mined and used in the numerous steel mills that once dotted the landscape. Birmingham's steel heritage is long gone now, given way to other industries like banking and medical research. The University of Alabama at Birmingham makes up much of the downtown area.
The most interesting place to visit would be Five Points on the Southside. Interesting restuarants, and there's live music close by. It's about as close as you can get to local culture.
Birmingham is sort of like Detroit - safe enough, if you know which areas to avoid. Avoid North Birmingham - there's nothing to see there, and you will likely get robbed.
Anything south of Red Mountain, is safe. Anything north of Fultondale is safe. Anything in between might be safe during the day, and definitely not safe at night. Shields up and phasers armed!
There's a restaurant called Niki's in North Birmingham that serves the best southern home cooking you're likely to get. It's worth the risk - go during the day.
If you're hankering for authentic southern barbecue, find out where Dreamland BBQ is, and go eat there.
The city offers many opportunities for shopping. The city of Hoover, to the south, is home to one of the largest malls in the southeast.
Hoover not only has the Galleria, but it also has all the other upscale big box retailers as well. Costco, CompUSA, etc are all here. Next nearest place to get the good stuff is in Huntsville.
The Birmingham International Airport offers flights to and from many destinations, through connecting flights in Atlanta, New Orleans and Charlotte.
For more on what to see and do in Birmingham, visit the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau.
NOTICE
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons License, and originated from World66.com. For more information see: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0